Rio Secreto

This was a really cool trip I highly recommend it. Now you're used to seeing my photography here but all these photos were taken by the photographer who accompanied us on the trip. We weren't allowed our own cameras. So bonus on this post, you get to see me in a wetsuit... try to restrain your enthusiasm!!

We begin with a short hike thru the jungle. MMMM the smell of sweaty people in neoprene.... which way to the water?
The whole Yucatan Peninsula is limestone (flat like a cracker, full of holes like Swiss cheeze) so there are no above ground rivers. It all runs below ground in what they call closed cenotes or on occasion there are open cenotes where the top layer of limestone collapses. This was a fairly recent discovery & has only been open to tourists for I think I was told a year & half. We had an excellent guide who impressed upon us how important is was to make as little impact as possible. We were not to touch anything & follow along exactly were he went. Our group was nine people plus a photographer & a guide so very managable.

We learned all about the stalagmites & stalagtites, how all this was formed plus we had plenty of time to marvel at the sights. We had headlamps on our helmets plus in a few places there were spotlights. These were fairly limited & largely served to help the photographer get more dramatic shots. He also had flash units placed in strategic places too. Ok, I notice such things...
For part of the way we sloshed thru shin deep pools & up & over things (now we are going to walk like little men...) but for part of the way we had to swim. The water wasn't that cold but the wetsuits helped. Shannon wasn't sure how she was going to make out since she's a little claustrophobic but it was fairly open & air moves thru it so she made out fine.


At one point he had us sit & turn out our lights & be quiet for a few moments. With all the noise constantly around us this was a rare event & much appreciated, almost necessary to get the full effect of where we were.

A shot of D'Aristi (anis liqueur) at the end was a nice touch. A light lunch & back to the resort so a good way to spend half the day.